---

Mirror.co.uk, UK
Dec. 12, 2007
Jane Simon
www.mirror.co.uk

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 20111 • Posted: Wednesday December 12, 2007  

---

C4, 10pm

Self-styled Messiah Michael Travesser is at that awkward stage right now that many religious cult leaders go through. The world was supposed to end on October 31 this year, and conspicuously didn’t.

British film-maker Ben Anthony visited the group’s settlement in New Mexico as they prepared eagerly for the end and found Michael and his weird, bony-looking followers surprisingly willing to chat.

Michael’s two female companions stare at him with a demented intensity. But what’s most disturbing are the children – almost all girls – who have been brought up in this cult and then left there, even after their parents realised Michael wasn’t the Messiah, but a 66-year-old former sailor called Wayne Bent.

Then, as Ben hears about a ceremony that called for seven virgins to help Michael mark the end of the world, his film takes an all-too predictable detour into the cult s sexual nature and the hold Michael has over his flock.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Michael Travesser, Strong City, Wayne Bent Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Michael Travesser, Strong City, Wayne Bent Read Another Article Previous entry: Family charged in exorcism case Next entry: The End of the World Cult: Michael Travesser RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Michael Travesser Most Popular Today Polygamist Sect Leader Convicted of Sexual Assault Jury takes 14 minutes to convict self-proclaimed pot pastor Supreme Court upholds cult AUM Shinrikyo members’ death sentences Fort Hood shooting: imam says Nalid Malik Husan ‘didn’t seem like an extremist’ Prosecutor not malicious in Satanic sex abuse case, Canada’s Supreme Court says

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.